Return of the Jedi
Return of the Jedi (also known as Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas was from a story by Lucas, who was also the executive producer. It was the third film released in the Star Wars saga and the first film to use THX technology. The film is set one year after The Empire Strikes Back and was produced by Howard Kazanjian for Lucasfilm Ltd. The film stars Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew and Frank Oz. The evil Galactic Empire, under the direction of the ruthless Emperor Palpatine, is constructing a second Death Star in order to crush the Rebel Alliance once and for all. Since Palpatine plans to personally oversee the final stages of its construction, the Rebel Fleet launches a full-scale attack on the Death Star in order to prevent its completion and kill Palpatine, effectively bringing an end to the Empire's hold over the galaxy. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker, the Rebel leader and Jedi apprentice, struggles to bring Darth Vader, whom he has learned is actually his father Anakin and himself a fallen Jedi, back from the Dark Side of the Force. David Lynch and David Cronenberg were considered to direct the project before Marquand signed on as director. The production team relied on Lucas' storyboards during pre-production. While writing the shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand, and producer Howard Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas to construct it. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting to begin a few weeks early to allow Industrial Light & Magic more time to work on the film's effects in post-production. Filming took place in England, California, and Arizona from January to March 1982. Strict secrecy surrounded the production and the film used the working title Blue Harvest to prevent price gouging. The film was released in theaters on May 25, 1983, receiving mostly positive reviews. The film grossed over $572 million worldwide. Several home video and theatrical releases and revisions to the film followed over the next 20 years. Star Wars continued with Episode I: The Phantom Menace as part of the film series' prequel trilogy. A sequel, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, was announced on October 30, 2012, and is set to be released on December 18, 2015. Plot Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine disguised as a bounty hunter with Chewbacca as her prisoner. Lando is already there disguised as a guard. Leia releases Han from his carbonite prison, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward but after a tense standoff, he is captured. After Luke survives his battle with Jabba's Rancor, Jabba sentences him and Han to death by feeding them to the Sarlacc. Luke frees himself and battles Jabba's guards. During the chaos, Boba Fett, who has remained at Jabba's palace since delivering Han, attempts to attack Luke, but Han inadvertently knocks him into the Sarlacc pit. Meanwhile, Leia strangles Jabba to death, and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah where he finds that Yoda is dying. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, and there is "another Skywalker". The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that this other Skywalker is Luke's twin sister, Leia. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must fight Vader again to defeat the Empire. The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a new Death Star under the supervision of Emperor Palpatine himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so would allow a squadron of starfighters to destroy the Death Star. The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and, after an initial conflict, gain their trust. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and that he must go and confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, Luke is brought to Vader and unsuccessfully tries to convince him to turn from the dark side of the Force. Vader takes Luke to the Death Star to meet the Emperor, intent on turning him to the dark side. The Emperor reveals that the Death Star is actually fully operational and the Rebel fleet will fall into a trap. On Endor, Han's strike team is captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the Rebels to battle the Imperials. Meanwhile, Lando, piloting the Millennium Falcon, leads the Rebel fleet to the Death Star, only to find that the station's shield is still active and the Imperial fleet is waiting for them. The Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger and join the dark side of the Force, and Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke attacks Vader and severs his father's prosthetic right hand. The Emperor entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi as his father had been. On Endor, the strike team defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the Rebel fleet to launch their assault on the Death Star. At the same time, a furious Palpatine tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader becomes Anakin Skywalker once more and kills the Emperor, but is mortally wounded in the process. He asks Luke to help remove his mask before dying in Luke's arms. As the battle between the Imperial and Alliance fleets continues, Lando leads a group of Rebel ships into the Death Star's core and destroys the main reactor. As Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father's body, the Falcon flies out of the Death Star's superstructure as the station explodes. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they share a kiss. Luke returns to Endor and cremates his father's body on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Luke smiles as he sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the redeemed Anakin watching over them. Cast and characters Main cast * Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker * Harrison Ford as Han Solo * Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia Organa * Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian * Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, * David Prowse as Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) * Kenny Baker as R2-D2 * Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca * Frank Oz as Yoda * Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine * Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi * Sebastian Shaw as Anakin Skywalker Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker (replaced Sebastian Shaw in the final scene on the DVD) Supporting cast * Denis Lawson as Wedge Antilles * Michael Pennington as Moff Jerjerrod * Kenneth Colley as Admiral Piett * Warwick Davis as Wicket * Jeremy Bulloch as Boba Fett * Caroline Blakiston as Mon Mothma * Larry Ward as the voice of Jabba the Hutt (uncredited) * Michael Carter as Bib Fortuna * Femi Taylor as Oola * Claire Davenport as Yarna d'al' Gargan * Peter Burroughs, Debbie Lee Carrington, Tony Cox, Mike Edmonds, Jack Purvis, Jane Busby, Kiran Shah and Felix Silla as ewoks * Paul Brooke as Malakili (uncredited) To portray the numerous alien species featured in the film a multitude of puppeteers, voice actors, and stunt performers were employed. They included: * Timothy M. Rose as Admiral Ackbar, Sy Snootles and Salacious Crumb * Mike Quinn as Nien Nunb, baby Ewok, and Wol Cabasshite. He also assisted in operating Sy Snootles, Admiral Ackbar, Ree-Yees and Yoda * Simon Williamson as Max Rebo, Gamorrean Guard and a Mon Calamari. He also assisted in operating Nien Nunb * Deep Roy as Droopy McCool (also played an Ewok and was a stand in for Yoda and R2D2) * Ailsa Berk as Amanaman * Hugh Spight as Gamorrean Guard, Elom and a Mon Calamari * Gerald Home as Tessek and Mon Calamari officer * Richard Bonehill (uncredited) as Ree Yees, Mosep Binneed and a Mon Calamari. He also assisted in operating Nien Nunb and performed sunts * Phil Herbert as Hermi Odle * Mime artist duo Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) as Whiphid and Yak-Face * Phil Tippett as the Rancor Additional voices were provided by; Annie Arbogast (Sy Snootles), Erik Bauersfeld (Ackbar/Bib Fortuna – uncredited), Ben Burtt (Droid/R2-D2), Denny Delk (Ewoks – uncredited), Ernie Fosselius (Malakili/Giran – uncredited), Richard Marquand (EV-9D9), Kipsang Rotich (Nien Nunb – uncredited) and Pat Welsh (Boushh – uncredited) External links * Category:Films Category:Star Wars series Category:1983 release Category:Sci-Fi Films Category:Harrison Ford films Category:Alec Guinness films